Robin Yount
Robin R. Yount ( , born September 16, 1955 in Danville, Illinois) is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Milwaukee Brewers (1974–1993). A first-round draft pick in 1973, Yount debuted the following year at age 18, and on September 14, 1975, he broke Mel Ott's 47-year-old record for most games played in the major leagues as a teenager. Career Yount courted controversy in the winter of 1978. He threatened to retire from the game and take up professional golf rather than be underpaid by the Brewers. His demands were met during spring training in 1978, and he played the full season, ultimately becoming a Brewer for the rest of his career. Rookie Paul Molitor filled in at shortstop during the first month of 1978. Always a better-than-average hitter (career .285 batting average), by 1980 Yount had developed into the prototypical power-hitting shortstop, preceding the likes of Cal Ripken, Jr., Nomar Garciaparra and Alex Rodriguez. An All-Star in 1980, 1982 and 1983, Yount collected more hits in the decade of the 1980s than any other player (1731) and won a Gold Glove Award in 1982. 1982 proved his finest statistical season, as he won his first MVP award and helped lead the Brewers to their only World Series appearance, where he became the only player to collect four hits in each of two World Series games. His career highs of 29 home runs, a .331 batting average, and 114 RBIs were all products of the 1982 season; he also stole 14 bases and had 210 hits, of which 46 were doubles and 12 were triples. In 1985, a shoulder problem forced Yount to move to the outfield. After splitting time between center field and left field, Yount became the Brewers' regular center fielder in 1986. He proved to be an above-average outfielder, posting a .990 fielding percentage in more than 1,200 games in the outfield, and made a memorable game-ending, diving catch to preserve a no-hitter by Juan Nieves early in the 1987 season. In 1989, Yount collected a second MVP award in a close and controversial vote with Ruben Sierra of the Texas Rangers, making him only the third player to win MVPs at two positions, joining Hank Greenberg and Stan Musial (Alex Rodriguez later joined the list). He was also the first AL player to win multiple MVP's since the early 1960s (Yankees' Roger Maris (1960 & 1961) and Mickey Mantle (1956, 1957, and 1962). Frank Robinson won NL MVP in 1961 and AL MVP in 1966. Yount collected his 3,000th career hit in 1992 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, his first year of eligibility. That same year, he was named as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. He was the last active major leaguer who was a teammate of Hank Aaron (1975-1976). He officially retired early in 1994. His brother Larry played one game for the Houston Astros in 1971 a pitcher who was injured while warming up. Post-playing career Yount served as first base coach and bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2002 to 2004. He resigned after the dismissal of Arizona manager Bob Brenly. He, Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn and Bob Uecker threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the 2002 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Miller Park. In 2005, Brewers manager Ned Yost convinced Dale Sveum — both are former teammates of Yount's — to become Milwaukee's new third base coach. Yount followed suit a few weeks later, accepting a post as the Brewers' bench coach. In November 2006, Yount announced he would not return to the team as bench coach for the 2007 season. He holds the Brewers' career records for games, at-bats, runs, hits, doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs, total bases, walks and strike outs. In June 2008, Yount announced the creation of a new lemonade drink, Robinade. A portion of the proceeds of the sales goes to charity. On September 15, 2008, Dale Sveum named Yount his bench coach for the Milwaukee Brewers. Yount served in that capacity for Ned Yost in 2006 before stepping down to spend more time with his family. See also * Top 500 home run hitters of all time * List of Major League Baseball doubles records * DHL Hometown Heroes * List of major league players with 2,000 hits * List of Major League Baseball players with 400 doubles * List of Major League Baseball players with 100 triples * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 runs * List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI * List of Major League Baseball doubles champions * List of Major League Baseball triples champions * 3000 hit club * Hitting for the cycle External links * * Robinade Old School Lemonade http://www.robinade.org Category:Major League Baseball players from Illinois Category:American League All-Stars Category:Hall of Fame Category:Major League Baseball center fielders Category:Major League Baseball shortstops Category:Milwaukee Brewers players Category:Gold Glove Award winners Category:Players who have hit for the cycle Category:People from Danville, Illinois Category:Players with retired numbers Category:Players